Alex was briefly taken aback by the smile the boy before him displayed. He had been so used to seeing people come up to him only to bully him and none of them had ever showed a smile like that before.
'Wait, was I wrong?' He wondered, looking at the boy carefully. He then glanced at the boy's friend and noticed similar expressions. He looked at Ross to see what kind of expression he was showing as well. The two exchanged a look and noticed the confusion in their eyes.
Suddenly, the boy in question put his right hand in his hair and flashed a smug grin.
"The name is Zen Henjok. But you can call me Zen," he introduced himself. And from the way he behaved, Alex understood the kind of person this Zen fellow was.
'A narcissist, huh?' Alex thought.
"Alexander Gray. This is Ross Bongu and Julia Knight," he introduced himself and his friends, gesturing to Ross and Julia. Both responded with a nod in Zen's direction.
Immediately upon hearing the name of Julia Knight, Zen was rendered speechless.
"Oh... So, you must be the princess of the Knight family." He moved passed Alex and Ross and came before Julia. He attempted to take the hand of Julia but a glare from her stopped him in his tracks.
"Hehehe..." Zen gave a nervous laugh backing off.
'What is it with this guy? First, you approach me, then you ignore me as soon as you hear Julia's name. You didn't even introduce your friends or goons or whatever they are to you?!' Alex didn't know how to treat the person before him, and he was getting a little frustrated.
"What exactly do you want?" Alex was running out of patience. He already had plans with his friends, after all, they were planning on what to do and where to go before this Zen fellow interrupted.
'Damnit, now what?' his mind was quickly racing for a solution. He knew how much power the Knight family had on Mars, and with her father being the Planet Lord, a single word would be all it took to kick him out!
He cleared his throat before coming up with his response, "Miss Julia, this is between Alex and I." He said, briefly glancing at Alex standing behind Julia. He half expected the boy to stand up for himself, but no word came from him.
Of course, it wasn't that Alex was leaving everything to Julia. He just hadn't seen this side of Julia yet, and honestly, he was impressed. The air around her had changed and he could even feel a slight chill in the air.
'Guess she's pissed.' He wondered with a small smile. When he came out of his thoughts and noticed the face Zen was making towards him, he understood his plight. Initially, he would have done nothing, but when he thought of the likely rumours that would go around, he decided to intervene.
"Julia, allow me to handle this," Alex said. Julia turned around to confirm, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Guys like this only speak one language." He looked directly into his eyes. He could already see the relief in his eyes. While he was being a jerk to him, he feared dealing with Julia, and it was understandable.
Julia cast a last glance at Zen and then stepped back. Ross, of course, just wanted to see what Alex had under his sleeves. He had always wanted Alex to stand up for himself. Now that it was happening, he would be damned to interfere.
"While I am not against the notion of having a bout with you, it would be on my terms. Just not right now." Alex stated, waiting for Zen's response.
At this point, whatever power Zen had amassed in the short period was already gone. Because he faltered before Julia, his momentum had deflated, leaving him looking like a dud.
"Fine." He said with as much venom as he could muster before storming off with his goons.
'You're going to regret that.' He silently thought to himself leaving the silent classroom.